Sunday, April 29, 2012

Well, it looks like the spinach is ready to begin harvesting. Also, the last of the tulips have finally bloomed, and the dicentra 'burning hearts' has sent out the first few crimson flowers.

A couple of days ago I began a new compost pile. There were plenty of leaves and lots of grass to build from. Also, I added two bags of coffee grounds from the Ballard Starbucks. Today, I turned the pile for the first time and ended up getting roasted by the heat emanating from the middle of the pile.

I replanted another bag of Alderman peas, but many still did not sprout, and a lot of sprouts from the first bag were ravaged by cut worms. As the picture shows above, I have tried to protect the successful plants with mini sticky note tubes to fend off attacking worms. Hopefully, the plants will get better established. Fingers crossed.

Finally, I discovered some celery starts a week ago at the Bellevue Nursery. I planted them toward the front of my plot so they will get full sun, and not be blocked by later vegetables (e.g., corn, beans).

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Well, the weather is still behaving erratically. One day, it will be warm and sunny, whereas on another day it will be wet and cold. Thus, I'll have to hold off on any warm-weather plants. I have planted two separate groups of Alderman peas. I pre-soaked (sprouted) and innoculated these seeds to give them a head start, and covered them all with remay, as the birds will eat unprotected seeds.

As the pic above shows, my hellebore are in full bloom, and several of the tulip bulbs from last year have re-bloomed. I'm definitely planning on getting some more bi-color tulips next fall as the crimson ones look absolutely stunning. Also, there are some spinach starts in the background that are beginning to take off. My two dicentra 'Burning Hearts' plants have survived and show signs of green growth.